The buried detail that Evil Mad Scientist was acquired by Bantam Tools deserves an article on its own IMO. I find it sad that such a nifty small (and seemingly very personal) business would get gobbled up (though I would be happy if they proved me wrong about the typical fate of acquired companies!).
I'm reasonably good friends with Windell & Lenore, and I think "gobbled up" is not the right way to look at it.
It's my understanding that they've known the folks at Bantam for some time now, and that given how hard it can be to run a physical product company (especially one that does some in-house manufacturing for your own products!) in the bay area, that they're looking forward to having such niceties as 'pto'.
They're really excellent people, and made a huge difference to me when I first moved to the bay area, so while it's sad to see them leave, I understand it, and hope this leads to a better situation all around for them.
I have every expectation that they're doing what they believe to be the right thing for themselves. I have no objection to that, and it isn't meant to be negative toward them in any way. I don't actually know them, for one. :)
It doesn't make it any less sad, however. It's just... the end of an era, it feels like.
I also have issues with M&A practices to begin with. While I can't speak for this particular case, I do worry that in general the frequency of M&A is trending toward harmful to our society. That may be coloring my view.
I just hope they release the MOnSter 6502 someday. That thing is cool, and if I happened to have the money, I'd probably pay a grand to be able to hang one on my wall...
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The buried detail that Evil Mad Scientist was acquired by Bantam Tools deserves an article on its own IMO. I find it sad that such a nifty small (and seemingly very personal) business would get gobbled up (though I would be happy if they proved me wrong about the typical fate of acquired companies!).
I'm reasonably good friends with Windell & Lenore, and I think "gobbled up" is not the right way to look at it.
It's my understanding that they've known the folks at Bantam for some time now, and that given how hard it can be to run a physical product company (especially one that does some in-house manufacturing for your own products!) in the bay area, that they're looking forward to having such niceties as 'pto'.
They're really excellent people, and made a huge difference to me when I first moved to the bay area, so while it's sad to see them leave, I understand it, and hope this leads to a better situation all around for them.
I have every expectation that they're doing what they believe to be the right thing for themselves. I have no objection to that, and it isn't meant to be negative toward them in any way. I don't actually know them, for one. :)
It doesn't make it any less sad, however. It's just... the end of an era, it feels like.
I also have issues with M&A practices to begin with. While I can't speak for this particular case, I do worry that in general the frequency of M&A is trending toward harmful to our society. That may be coloring my view.
I just hope they release the MOnSter 6502 someday. That thing is cool, and if I happened to have the money, I'd probably pay a grand to be able to hang one on my wall...
Yeah. Here is the press release [1] about the acquisition.
[1]: https://www.bantamtools.com/blog/bantam-tools-acquires-evil-...